Some red-carpet pairings you’ll be able to predict. Sydney Sweeney and Christopher Meloni buying and selling a giddy Emmys selfie wasn’t one in all them. Seated close to the Regulation & Order: SVU icon—whose sequence hits Season 27 on the 2025 TV schedule—on the 2025 Emmy ceremony, Sweeney did what any fan would: snapped the second and shared it.
Sweeney posted the proof on her Instagram Story, which you’ll be able to see beneath, sharing a gaggle selfie from contained in the ceremony and writing, “If you already know me you know the way excited I used to be,” whereas tagging @chris_meloni and @therealmariskahargitay. The power is peak “I simply met my TV hero,” and the grin says all of it.
Speak about a pleasant crossover of leisure worlds. Sweeney is a lead on the status drama Euphoria (obtainable with an HBO Max subscription), whereas Meloni anchored Regulation & Order: SVU from 1999 to 2011 earlier than returning within the spinoff Regulation & Order: Organized Crime (streaming with a Peacock subscription). His pop-culture profile—half stoic detective, half wink-to-camera icon—made the Madame Net actress’s real fangirl second particularly nice to see.
And since we’re speaking Meloni, it’s value zooming out on the profession arc that made this selfie such a thrill. He launched Elliot Stabler on Regulation & Order: SVU in 1999 and, throughout 12 seasons, helped outline the present’s steel-spined coronary heart as a detective who might be volcanic at occasions however tender with survivors. To not point out, he was additionally unshakably loyal to his accomplice, Olivia Benson. When Meloni left after Season 12, Stabler’s absence turned a part of SVU lore—a kind of TV departures that followers nonetheless debate in remark sections and assume items.
To seal her Regulation & Order cred, the White Lotus veteran additionally tagged Mariska Hargitay—a sensible transfer. Though Hargitay isn’t within the shot, the honorary gif nod is a love letter to followers who’ve lengthy shipped Benson and Stabler (a.ok.a. Bensler Nation). Should you’ve ever yelled “DUN-DUN!” at your display, you felt this one.
Regulation & Order: Organized Crime reintroduced Stabler to New York with a brand new mission, swapping SVU’s case-of-the-week rhythm for serialized takedowns of prison syndicates. The spinoff leans into long-game storytelling, with season-spanning nemeses, whereas letting Meloni flex the complete vary that made him a star. Crossovers with SVU hold the connective tissue sturdy (and Bensler hypothesis alive), but Organized Crime feels unmistakably its personal animal, straddling status and pop leisure, which is strictly why a fast awards-night selfie with the All the pieces Sucks! actress is so apropos.
The Sharp Objects alum had a 12 months of whiplash-fast pivots—thrillers, rom-coms, a superhero one-off, high-gloss trend campaigns—and but her awards-night spotlight was being a fan amongst legends. It’s the very best sort of movie star second when they’re totally relatable. And for Meloni, whose profession sits on the intersection of “severe actor” and “strolling meme,” it’s additional proof that the SVU prolonged universe contains mainly all of us.
Ought to we, Sweeney and Regulation & Order followers, begin manifesting a cameo within the L&O cosmos? Look, we’ve seen crazier crossovers, and the casting synergy is true there. And even when it doesn’t occur, we are able to nonetheless file this Emmy crossover below: unexpectedly healthful.
As for Sydney Sweeney’s subsequent position, she is ready to star as Christy Martin within the biopic Christy, set to hit the 2025 film schedule on November 7.